The best base-stealing clubs in baseball
By CHRIS BERNUCCA
The stolen base is making a comeback.
The Steroid Era - a variation on Earl Weaver approach of "pitching, defense and three-run homers" without the pitching and defense - is over.
The crackdown on artificial sluggers is forcing teams to look for other ways to generate runs.
During Sunday's Yankees-White Sox game, Yankees analyst Al Leiter noted Chicago's new emphasis on speed, four years after it belted 200 homers and won the World Series. A recent issue of Sports Illustrated addressed new metrics teams are using to measure base-stealing and base-running efficiency.
The National League big fly leader may not reach 47, which would be the lowest leading total since the strike-shortened 1995 season. The American League leader likely will finish with less than 40 for the second straight year, which hasn't happened since the early 1980s.
Meanwhile, totals for NL steals leaders have climbed from the 40s to the 60s this decade. And AL leader Carl Crawford is on pace to become the first with 70 steals since Brian Hunter in 1997.
It should be no surprise that the top running teams are among baseball's better offensive teams. Five clubs are in the top eight in both steals and runs, including division leaders Philadelphia (eighth in steals, fifth in runs) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (seventh and seventh).
But does running help teams win? And how does it impact the bettor? Let's have a look.
Boston Red Sox
It's a credit to GM Theo Epstein that he has incorporated a speed aspect in an offense usually geared to bomb away at the short fences in Fenway Park. The Red Sox are fifth in the majors with 85 steals, led by Jacoby Ellsbury with 48.
Boston is only ninth in steal percentage, meaning it can do better picking its spots to run. And while speed has helped push the Red Sox to fourth in runs, they’ve played over the total in just 44 of their 104 games.
New York Mets
The Mets' running attack usually is led by Jose Reyes, who has not played since May 20 due to injury. With sluggers Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado also out, the Mets have run even more and are fourth with 91 steals.
David Wright, the only power threat in the lineup, also has team-high 23 steals. But he can't do everything; the Mets are 23rd in runs and have an over/under mark of 46-52-7.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers are third with 93 steals and have good balance. Nelson Cruz, Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler all have at least 17 stolen bags. They may miss Kinsler, who went on the DL over the weekend.
Texas endured a significant scoring slump in June but is 11th in runs and still in the postseason hunt, partially because it leads the majors with an .840 steal percentage. The Rangers new small-ball approach hasn’t helped over bettors banking on three-run jacks. Texas is actually one of the best under bets in the bigs.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels have 107 steals, good for second in the majors. Chone Figgins leads the way with 31 and Bobby Abreu has 22. Their .750 percentage tells you that they are a bit overaggressive at times.
But the Angels clearly are running to runs. They are second in scoring with 590 runs and are a league-best 62-37-4 against the over.
Tampa Bay Rays
With Crawford already at 49 steals, the Rays are the runaway leaders with 144. B.J. Upton has 33 and Jason Bartlett 20. They also are second in steal percentage at .800.
The aggression on the bases has Tampa Bay third with 554 runs, although its over-under mark is just 45-57-4.